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EMPLOYMENT PSYCHOLOGY
What we really do when we judge a person is to express a
peculiar feeling of liking, indifference, or dislike. We are
impressed either favorably or unfavorably, or we receive a
neutral impression. Sometimes we can account for this
impression, frequently we cannot. Often the most trivial
fact or happening determines it. This impression we are
likely to interpret in terms of industry, attention, and
other personal attributes. However, as will be pointed
out in the chapter on job analysis, general qualities of this
kind have little significance when applied to the process of
choosing particular individuals for particular jobs. In
the instance given, two groups of girls were observed and
the estimates expressed were, in general, correct. So far
as unaided observation could judge, these two groups
were almost on the same level. Sitting on opposite sides
of the same room, there was very little observable difference
between them. If they had been lined up before the
employment interviewer, they would have had equal
opportunities of being chosen for either inspection or
gauging. And yet, there was a difference between these
girls which divided them, after a number of trials in the
shop, into two distinct groups. One group was best
fitted for one kind of work, the other for another
kind.
Now, when we consider that this is only a single instance,
and that a modern industry comprises an almost
endless variety of tasks and people, the inadequacy of the
observational method with its general likes and dislikes,
its loose classifications made on broad lines, becomes increasingly
apparent. It is not enough for an applicant to
make a good general impression when he is applying for a
position as accountant. He should be able to show or to
demonstrate concretely that he has the training and
